OCEANSIDE: City may ditch "crash tax"

Fire inspection fees also scrutinized

Two Oceanside City Council members want to eliminate a so-called
"crash tax" that charges a fee to out-of-town drivers who get into
a car crash that requires emergency help from the city fire
department.

"We need to stop this idea that we're going to raise taxes to
solve our budget problems or this idea that we're going to stick it
to someone who doesn't live in the city," said Councilman Gary
Felien, who with Councilman Jerry Kern is working to have the fee
abolished.

"Does this mean you want to hit your grandma with a crash tax if
she gets in an accident?" Felien added.

Felien and Kern also want to repeal a fee the city started
charging in December for Fire Department inspections of apartment
and condominium complexes.

"People already pay taxes to have (inspections) done," Kern
said. "You're taxing them on top of a tax."

The push to cancel the fees is up for City Council review
Wednesday. It comes as city officials are planning to slash
services to cope with a $3.6 million budget deficit projected for
the 2010-11 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

The North County Fire Protection District, which covers the
Fallbrook area, approved a crash tax in 2009 and the Vista City
Council voted last month to impose such a fee.

Oceanside City Manager Peter Weiss said repealing the crash and
inspection fees in Oceanside would cost the city about
$300,000.

But Felien and Kern said projections on the amount of money the
city would earn from the fees were exaggerated.

Kern said the crash tax is giving the city a bad name and the
city stands to lose far more in tourism revenue than what it would
earn from the fee.

"We're a tourist town. We depend on that image," Kern said.

A Los Angeles Times columnist in February referred to Oceanside
as a "predator" city because of the tax and Kern said he was
interviewed Thursday by Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio about the
fee.

"In the winter, we get a lot of Canadians coming down," Kern
said. He said news of the crash tax could cause some to go
elsewhere.

"We're not going to be a predator city anymore," Kern said.

The council adopted the crash tax in a 3-1 vote in April with
Councilman Jack Feller voting no. Kern and Mayor Jim Wood and
Councilwoman Esther Sanchez voted for it.

Kern said he was sold a bill of goods.

At the time, Fire Department officials said the fee would raise
$266,000 annually.

Since it was enacted, the fee has raised $15,948, Felien
said.

Fire Chief Daryl Hebert defended the fee.

"It's a cost-recovery measure for nonresidents, people who don't
contribute to the fire protection or emergency response in
Oceanside," Hebert said. He said bills are sent to insurance
companies, not the drivers themselves.

Hebert said it's unfair to judge the program's performance on
just a few months because the Fire Department is still learning how
to implement it.

"The way I look at it today, any revenue is a positive to
maintain the level of services we enjoy here," Hebert said.

Similarly, Hebert said the fire inspection fee was an important
revenue source that was likely to grow.

If the fee is eliminated, the money to pay for the inspections
will have to come from somewhere else.

"It's going to be a cost that's still there." Hebert said.

Kern said the inspection fee, like the crash tax, was oversold.
He said the Fire Department estimated the fee would raise $100,000
annually, but since it was enacted in December, it has raised only
about $5,000.

He said officials use the higher estimates in setting the budget
rather than having to scramble when the fees don't raise as much as
was projected.